Bicycling Anger & Bicycling Cupcakes
Out of focus cupcake. Is this your bike advocate? Image by Tammy Green. Some rights reserved.
Maria Houser Conzemius has a lot to say. One of her comments really sums up why cyclists are frustrated -- they are abused and don't get the protection afforded other citizens. She's also right about the inept comments of the local bike club president, which are all too typical.
Here's what she says about the frustration many of us feel:
When a town becomes openly lawless and hostile toward particular groups of people, whether they be cyclists or whatever, what do they think is going to happen? Frustrated bicyclists harassed, brushed, and threatened by motorists will take matters into their own hands. We confront aggressive, hostile drivers because they are using their vehicles as weapons, and we know the cops won't help. What the hell are we supposed to do?
I don't know whether confronting idiot drivers helps. If the driver does something dangerous because they are stupid - and that's often the case - some confrontation might help activate their sluggish brains. On the other hand, weak assholes are the kind of people who are quite capable of doing something really bad. Our jails aren't filled with Einsteins.
Maria also slams what the President of the Iowa City bicycle club said in an article about car driver confrontations in Iowa City:
David Rudin, President of BIC, must ride his bike in some kind of a happy bubble not to see or talk about dangerous motorists. He had a golden opportunity to tell Mike McWilliams, the Iowa City Press-Citizen reporter, about safety concerns for cyclists. . . . Rudin did not act as a good advocate for his fellow cyclists and we don't appreciate the stupidity of his pollyanna world view.
She's right. Here's what this very nice man told the Press-Citizen:
"I've been a commuter for six or seven years and overall, I've had good luck riding in Iowa City," said Rudin, who works at the VA Iowa City Health Care System and also is president of the Bicyclists of Iowa City club. "I've had just as many incidents inside the Iowa City area as I've had outside. I don't really have any complaints with Iowa City."
The leaders of our local bike clubs could easily have said the same thing. Let's face it, many of the people that run bike clubs (or bike programs) are passive, "we can take it," "thanks for the beating" cupcakes. They are rapturous when the city puts up a "share the road" sign after eliminating the shoulder to fit in another traffic lane. And they pant with self-importance when invited to a committee meeting or they see their name in the paper.
They are not advocates for cycling. They should be. All cyclists should be.
If you are leading an advocacy group, you know that a press call is a chance to push your agenda. It is not time to diddle yourself by trying to see your spineless nattering in print.
If you want to change things, you need to point out problems. If you don't see any problems, put to an advocate. If you can't do that, at least shut up and spend the time organizing the club's next potluck.
